Carpet scouring and blooming apparatus

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for scouring and blooming carpet comprising a convex carpet engaging surface of a fluid-treating member over which the laterally spread carpet is passed endwise and which has a channel in its carpet engaging surface that is connected at spaced points to the bore of the member by ducts through which fluid is delivered to the channel and thus to the carpet. The apparatus is adapted to be used in conjunction with the usual wet-out box of a carpet drying operation and includes carpet washing sprays directed onto the carpet and draining into the wet-out box.

United States Patent Primary Examiner-Daniel Blum Attorney-William FtSmith ABSTRACT: An apparatus for scouring and blooming carpet comprisinga convex carpet engaging surface of a fluid-treating member over whichthe laterally spread carpet is passed endwise and which has a channel inits carpet engaging surface that is connected at spaced points to thebore of the member by ducts through which fluid is delivered to thechannel and thus to the carpet. The apparatus is adapted to be used inconjunction with the usual wet-out box of a carpet drying operation andincludes carpet washing sprays directed onto the carpet and draininginto the wet-out box.

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GEORGE H. YOUSE HERMAN H. PRICE. JR. INVENTORS CARPET SCOURING ANDBLOOMING APPARATUS This invention relates to a carpet scouring andblooming apparatus or more particularly, to an apparatus for removingfrom the yarn the finish that may be used during the processing andhandling of the yarn, and for blooming or opening the pile yarn, whichmay involve physically separating the filaments of the individual tuftsas well as heat treating them such as by the usual steaming operationthat is commonly applied to synthetic yarns to relieve the stressesfrozen in the filaments.

The objects of this invention are to provide a carpet scouring andblooming apparatus that is simple and inexpensive, is essentiallycompatible with existing carpet processing equipment in order tominimize the required investment, will effectively scour and bloomcarpet with a minimum of materials, requires a minimum of attentionduring operation, and is trouble-free and durable.

The above objects have been achieved by an apparatus adapted to be usedat the usual wet-out box that is normally provided at the input of acarpet dryer to insure a uniform web ness of the carpet as it enters thedryer. The present apparatus comprises essentially a fluid-treatingmember, preferably in the form of a pipe, over which the carpet isangled and at which a heated fluid, e.g., steam, is passed through thecarpet from the backing side thereof. From the fluid-treating member,the carpet is angled under a guide in the wet-out box to a pair ofsuccessive fresh water rinsing sprays, and eventually to the usualvacuum extractor. The fluid-treating member acts primarily to bloom thepile but also initiates the scouring action which is later completed bythe rinsing sprays. The lead of the carpet and the location of therinsing sprays is designed so that the excess water at this point isdrained into the wet-out box from which it is removed. Thefluid-treating member comprises a convex carpet engaging surface overwhich the carpet passes, an axial bore for receiving and distributingthe fluid along the member and a plurality of ducts spaced along thefluid-treating member and interconnecting the bore and a groove endwiseof the carpet engaging surface, which groove acts to distribute thefluid uniformly along the carpet and thus to provide a uniform exposureof the carpet to the fluid.

With the above and other objects in view, the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention is hereinafter defined with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view transversely of an apparatusembodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially onthe line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detail sectional view of the fluid-treating member of theapparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 and taken substantially along the line3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view longitudinally of the rinsingmeans of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevational view of the rinsing means of FIG. 4.

In the drawings, there is illustrated an apparatus in accordance withthis invention for scouring and blooming a carpet, which apparatuscomprises a frame 1 fabricated for example from channel members andincluding a base 2 that is rectangular in outline, upright cornermembers 3, intermediate crossmembers 4, upper crossmembers 5 and a tiemember 6 extending between the upper crossmembers 5.

Mounted on the base 2 is a tank 7 havinga length that is dimensionedrelative to the width of the carpet to be processed whereby the carpetcan be passed endwise through the same in a laterally opened or flatcondition. A guide roll 8 is journaled freely for rotation in the bottomof the tank 7, for example, by bearings 9 secured to the end walls ofthe tank 7. The guide roll 8 is arranged longitudinally of the tank 7substantially midway between the front and rear walls thereof and isdisposed adjacent and parallel to the bottom wall thereof. The liquidlevel in the tank 7 is determined by a drain pipe 10 upstanding from thebottom wall of the tank 7 to an open end of the desired level. The drainpipe 10 extends through the bottom wall of the tank 7 and is designed todischarge into a floor drain (not shown) or to be joined to appropriatedrain connections (not shown).

An input guide roll 11 is journaled at the front of the frame 1 on theintermediate cross braces 4, and an output guide roll 12 is journaled,as by bearings 13 (FIG. 2), on the intermediate cross braces 4 at therear of the frame 1. The output guide roll 12 may be driven to pull thecarpet C from the supply, over the input guide roll 11 and the guideroll 8 in the tank 7 and thus to pull the carpet through the tank 7. Fordriving the roll 12 there may be for example a chain 14 that is runabout a sprocket 15 on the end ofa shaft 16 extending axially from theroll 12, the chain 14 being driven in turn by a sprocket 17 on the shaftof a motor 18 mounted on the adjacent upright corner members 3.

From the output guide roll 12, the carpet C passes over a pair of idlerrolls 19 and 20 that, as illustrated, may be journaled respectively onthe intermediate crossmembers 4 and the upper crossmembers 5, The carpetC then passes over a conventional vacuum extractor 21 which comprises apipe 22 mounted on the upper crossmembers 5 with the axis thereofparallel to the axis of the rolls 8, 12, etc. For mounting the pipe 22on the crossmembers 5 and for securing the same against turning, thereare provided straps 23 bolted to the crossmembers 5 and cooperating withtubular end sections 24 extending axially from each end of the pipe 22.The tubular end sections 24 are adapted to be connected as by conduits25 to a vacuum source (not shown). The pipe 22 is formed with arelatively narrow slot 26 through the wall thereof, which slot extendslongitudinally of the pipe 22 at substantially the midpoint of thesurface or arcuate area of the pipe engaged by the carpet, which area inthe illustrated apparatus is at the uppermost portion of the pipe. Theslot 26 is thus in effect closed by the carpet C as it passes over thepipe and the loose water is extracted from it by the air drawn throughthe carpet by the vacuum applied internally of the pipe 22.

The carpet runs from the extractor 21 to an output roll 27 which mayalso be driven to pull the carpet C from the roll 12, over the idlerrolls 19 and 20, and extractor 21, and to deliver the same from theapparatus. The roll 27 may be driven for ex ample by a motor 28 (FIG. 1)supported by a bracket 29 on the upper crossmember 5 and connected tothe roll 27 by a chain 30. In lieu of the drives on the rolls l2 and 27,the carpet may be pulled through the apparatus by the usual conveyingand/or tenter mechanism of the dryer, or by other suitable A means.

The structure thus far described comprises the usual wetout box that isnormally provided in a carpet drying operation for wetting the carpetuniformly before passing the same through the dryer. This wettingoperation is provided to compensate for any uneven wetness in the carpetthat may occur because of stacking the carpet in a hand truck for movingthe carpet from one operation to the next, which stacking squeezes thewater from the carpet folds that are at the bottom of the truck, orbecause the carpet is stored on the truck over a period of time andthere is therefore some drying at the exposed surfaces thereof. Uniformwetness is desired to produce uniform drying of the carpet with auniform residual moisture content and also to avoid scorching thecarpets where the temperature in some sections of the dryer issufficiently high to scorch the dry carpet.

In accordance with this invention, the above wet'out box is providedwith a steaming means 31 and a rinsing means 31a for scouring andblooming the carpet.

The steaming means 31 comprises a tubular fluid-treating member, whichin the illustrated form is a relatively thickwalled pipe 33, that isdisposed in an elevated position trans-' versely of the path of thecarpet at the front of the apparatus. The pipe 33 has end walls 34 towhich are secured tubular end sections 35 that, like the end sections 24of the extractor pipe 22, are arrangedaxially of the pipe 33 and areopen into the bore 36 of the pipe. The end sections 35 are supported bybrackets 37 on the front pair of upright members 3 and are securedthereon by straps 38. To minimize the drop in the fluid pressure alongthe pipe 33, both of the end sections 35 are connected to a source ofsteam by conduits 39 and are preferably connected to a common header(not shown).

The steamer pipe 33 is arranged relative to the path of the carpet Cfrom the supply or input to the guide roll 8 so that the carpet is bentor directed over the pipe 33 in contact with the external surfacethereof over an area that is herein termed the carpet-engaging surface.This surface is convex so that when a carpet is bent thereover with itsbacking B in contact with the carpet-engaging surface of the pipe 33,the pile P of the carpet is opened up. While the cylindrical pipe 33constitutes a convenient and inexpensive shape for the fluid-treatingmember, it will be apparent that cross sections other than cylindricalwould be suitable so long as the selected shape includes a convexcarpet-engaging surface.

Steam outlets are formed longitudinally of the carpet-engaging surfaceof the steamer pipe 33. in the illustrated form, the steam outletscomprise a pair of angularly spaced parallel grooves 32 milled in thewall of the pipe 33 and open at the periphery thereof. The grooves 32are connected to the bore 36 of the pipe 33 by a plurality of relativelysmall and closely spaced ducts 41 drilled through the wall of the pipebetween the bottom of the grooves 32 and the bore 36. The pipe 33 isalso provided with a drain opening 42 in the bottom thereof for drainingcondensate. The grooves 32 extend along the pipe 33 for a distancesubstantially equal to the width of the carpet for which the apparatusis designed, or in other words, for substantially the entire length ofthe pipe 33 that is engaged by the carpet.

The steamer pipe 33 is preferably small and for example may be about 3inches in diameter so that the carpet C is bent relatively sharply overthe carpet-engaging surface. Ac cordingly, the resistance of the carpetC to steam passing therethrough from the channels 32 is reduced and thesteam can more readily penetrate the carpet to lift from it the lint andother materials. At the same time, the steam impinges upon and passesthrough the pile and thus opens or blooms the same physically as well asheats the pile in the nature of the usual steaming operation to relievestresses frozen into the filaments, and initiates the scouring actionfor removal of the finish on the yarn.

While relatively small in diameter, the steamer pipe 33 has a thicksidewall to provide for grooves 32 of some depth. The grooves 32 serveto space the discharge end of the ducts 41 from the carpet so that thesteam issuing from the ducts will not impinge as jets upon the carpetand thereby have a nonuniform action upon the carpet. With the steampressures herein used, which may be about 4 p.s.i.g., the jets issuingfrom the ducts 41 are dissipated in the grooves 32 to provide a uniformsupply of steam along the grooves 32 and thus a uniform exposure of thesteam to the carpet. The grooves 32 thus function in substantially thesame manner as if they were slots but do not have the disadvantage ofweakening the circumferential strength of the pipe 33 which would createthe problem of maintaining a uniform gap over the length of the pipe,which may for example be feet long.

There is also the problem of maintaining uniform steam pressure alongthe length of the pipe 33, which is only partially reduced byintroducing steam from a common header simul taneously into both ends ofthe pipe. The pressure drop along the steamer pipe 33 is a function ofthe open area provided by the ducts 41 relative to the cross section ofthe pipe. At the same time, the volume of steam consumed is a functionof the open area and the steam pressure. With the relatively smalldiameter pipe desired to produce the bend in the carpet, and with therelatively low steam consumption involved, a slot would necessarily beso fine that it would present a manufacturing problem, and would stillrequire a groove such as the grooves 32 to avoid a jet effect upon thecarpet. On the other hand, with a plurality of spaced ducts 41, theindividual ducts can be relatively large and thus easily formed, and arespaced such that there is provided a uniform steam pressure in thegrooves 32.

By way of example, in processing a conventional carpet, it has beenfound that the steamer pipe 33 may be, as above noted, about 3 inches indiameter. With such a pipe, the wall thereof is preferably aboutthree-eighths to one-halfofan inch thick and the grooves 32, which maybe about three-sixteenths of an inch wide, are about one-quarter of aninch deep. The ducts 41 are about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameterand, with a pair of grooves 32 as shown, are spaced along the grooves 32at intervals of about three-eighths of an inch, with the ducts in thetwo grooves 32 being arranged in a staggered relation. Steam is suppliedat about 4 p.s.i.g.

The rinsing means 31a comprises a pair of parallel-arranged water tubes43 both of which are connected at their ends to common supply connectors44 which are in turn connected to fresh water supply lines 45. The tubes43 are carried by the connectors 44 which are in turn supported on theintermediate crosspieces 4 of the frame and are secured thereto bystraps 46. The tubes 43 are provided with a plurality of spray nozzles47 which are spaced along the tubes at uniform intervals. Each of thenozzles 47 has a spray head 48 adapted to discharge a diverging spraythat at the point of contact with the carpet is wider than the spacingof the nozzles 47 along the tubes 43. The nozzles 47 are also angledrelative to the centerline of the tubes 43 as illustrated in FIG. 5,whereby the spray line ofadjacent nozzles on the carpet will overlap.

The water tubes 43 are supported relative to the adjacent length of thecarpet C so that the nozzles are spaced from the pile surface of thecarpet by a distance of for example 2 inches.

To avoid the possibility of streaks in the carpet because of themalfunctioning of any one of the spray nozzles 47, as for example byclogging, the water tubes 43 and thus the spray nozzles 47 may beoscillated endwise. The nozzles when moved in this manner, spray zigzagpattern laterally of the carpet as the carpet moves by and thus, thespray from any one nozzle will not impinge upon the carpet in a lineendwise of the carpet.

in operation, the water tubes 43 are supplied with fresh water,preferably heated, at a relatively high pressure, e.g., 50 to p.s.i.g.,so that a flood of hot water is sprayed onto the carpet C, with someforce. The water thus penetrates the pile P of the carpet and washes outthe yarn finish. The water discharged by the nozzles 47 drains down thecarpet into the tank 7. While scouring is provided essentially by therinsing means 3111, the scouring is initiated at the steaming pipe 33and significant scouring can be achieved in the tank 7 by maintainingthe level of the rinsing liquid sufficiently high relative to the guideroll 8 that the carpet will be completely immersed. While the level ofthe liquid in the tank 7 is preferably maintained at a level to immersethe carpet completely, it will be obvious that the present inventionalso contemplates running the tank 7 empty so that it functions merelyas a catch for the rinsing liquid.

From the rinsing means 31a, the carpet passes over the extractor 21which removes the excess or loose water, and is then delivered from theapparatus, as for example, directly to a dryer in a uniformly wetcondition, and with the finish removed or washed-out and the pilebloomed in the manner normally provided by a steaming operation.

Accordingly, it will be apparent that, by this invention, the usualwet-out box ofa carpet drying apparatus is adapted to be converted to acarpet scouring and blooming apparatus by the addition of the steamingmeans 31 and the rinsing means 31a.

The apparatus of this invention is particularly useful with a yarn ofsynthetic filaments such as polypropylene which is normally providedwith a relatively high level of finish that serves as a lubricant and tohold the yarn together during processing, and which is also usuallyprecolored. With other materials, the pile may be easier to bloom or mayrequire less blooming, or the yarns may be held together by a high twistlevel or may not require a high finish level to have sufficient cohesionfor processing and, with yarns that are dyed, for example, after thecarpet is made, the dyeing operation may be adequate to impart thedesired bloom to the pile and to remove whatever finish was used. Afurther advantage of the present apparatus is that it avoids thenecessity for a separate steaming operation in those cases wheresteaming is desired.

What we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. Carpet scouring and blooming apparatus comprising:

a tank and a guide member disposed therein for receiving a carpetdirected endwise into said tank and for directing the same outwardly ofsaid tank,

a tubular fluid-treating member disposed to receive a carpet and todirect the same endwise in a path to said guide member with the backingof the carpet in engagement with the periphery of said fluid-treatingmember and the carpet bent over the periphery of said fluid-treatingmember and defining a carpet-engaging surface thereon.

guide means for receiving a carpet from said guide member and fordirecting the same in a path through the apparatus,

said fluid-treating member having an axial bore, means for introducing aheated fluid under pressure to said bore, and openings for conductingfluid from said bore to said with claim 1 in which the openings in thecarpet-engaging surface of said fluid-treating member comprise aperipheral groove longitudinally of said fluid-treating member and aplurality of ducts interconnecting said groove and the bore of saidfluid-treating member.

3. Carpet scouring and blooming apparatus in accordance with claim 2 inwhich said fluid-treating member comprises a steamer pipe, and saidgroove and ducts are formed in the said wall of said pipe.

4. Carpet scouring and blooming apparatus in accordance with claim 1 inwhich said rinsing means comprises a pair of water tubes having aplurality of elongated spray nozzles positioned to discharge anoverlapping spray onto the pile surface of the carpet.

1. Carpet scouring and blooming apparatus comprising: a tank and a guidemember disposed therein for receiving a carpet directed endwise intosaid tank and for directing the same outwardly of said tank, a tubularfluid-treating member disposed to receive a carpet and to direct thesame endwise in a path to said guide member with the backing of thecarpet in engagement with the periphery of said fluid-treating memberand the carpet bent over the periphery of said fluid-treating member anddefining a carpetengaging surface thereon. guide means for receiving acarpet from said guide member and for directing the same in a paththrough the apparatus, said fluid-treating member having an axial bore,means for introducing a heated fluid under pressure to said bore, andopenings for conducting fluid from said bore to said carpetengagingsurface, rinsing means arranged to spray a rinsing fluid onto the pilesurface of a carpet directed from guide member outwardly of said tankwhereby the rinsing fluid will drain along the carpet to said tank, anda vacuum extractor arranged relative to said guide means for operatingupon a carpet after passing said rinsing means.
 2. Carpet scouring andblooming apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the openings inthe carpet-engaging surface of said fluid-treatIng member comprise aperipheral groove longitudinally of said fluid-treating member and aplurality of ducts interconnecting said groove and the bore of saidfluid-treating member.
 3. Carpet scouring and blooming apparatus inaccordance with claim 2 in which said fluid-treating member comprises asteamer pipe, and said groove and ducts are formed in the said wall ofsaid pipe.
 4. Carpet scouring and blooming apparatus in accordance withclaim 1 in which said rinsing means comprises a pair of water tubeshaving a plurality of elongated spray nozzles positioned to discharge anoverlapping spray onto the pile surface of the carpet.